Gigantic manta rays pass right over thrilled scuba diver

2 years ago
11

Kristy has been scuba diving for 30 years, and she has done so in Belize, Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and other places.She is an experienced diver who has encountered whale sharks, turtles, and numerous other sea creatures.She had never, however, met a manta ray prior to this moment.She traveled to the Indonesian island of Komodo because it was on her bucket list to see these magnificent animals in their natural environment.
Watching white-tipped reef sharks and sea turtles pass by, Kristy drifted along with her camera 20 meters (60 feet) below the surface.A huge manta ray suddenly appeared out of nowhere and headed straight for her.As if inquisitive about this clumsy human, it shifted its course to face her.It slowly banked to the left just before colliding with her, passing almost directly over her head.Kristy got a close-up look at one of the world's most majestic animals' underside.And to make things even better, a second manta ray came very close to the first one.Kristy was amazed and delighted by the encounter with the trailing manta, which passed almost as close.
Many scuba divers never see one of these rays in their entire lives.They are massive, with wingspans of up to 18 feet and 6 meters.These rays are only threatened by large sharks and killer whales when fully grown.To get away from predators, they can swim very quickly.However, manta rays can't make up for lost pups from fishing because they only have one at a time.The manta ray has become a popular catch for Chinese markets due to unproven claims that their gill rakes have medicinal properties.

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